My Brother's Keeper
by LordMaster6
Summary: Cesar's mother has just died, the only family he has ever known. To stay out of Foster Care and off the streets, he's going to have to find his father, who knocked up his mother after a one night stand. A man he has spent his life hating...
1. Cesar

**I should be working on "We are not who you think we are", and to anyone who is waiting for an update on that, I am very sorry, but it's just not happening at the moment. Mostly because this story keeps getting in the way. So this story will be in first person, which is not my forte, especially since it will only ever be Cesar speaking. There will be some Tiva, but this is all through Cesar's eyes, so you'll see what he sees.**

**Disclaimer: I own NCIS. Yeah, suck on that CBS, don't like it? Feel free to fly me up to LA and take me to court. At the moment it's the only way I'm gonna be able to afford the plane ticket. I'm currently working insane hours trying to save up for a month long trip to Canada in June.**

* * *

So, uh, I'm Cesar, my mother named me that after the place she was born. I'm fifteen. I grew up in Vegas with my mom, she used to be a club singer for this really nice joint. But after she had me, she lost her figure, and wound up being a chain smoking bartender.

This story started after she died. I didn't have any other family. My mom was flown into Vegas by her first employer from Colombia, her family there were shot to bits by drug dealers, not really a surprise in Colombia. As for my father, I never met him, still haven't, don't really want to.

They wanted to put me into foster care. I didn't want to go. I mean, I know how to take care of myself, I can count cards, cut a deck like a pro. I can fight, the bouncer's at her old club taught me. That's why I ran away. I lasted a week on the streets of Vegas before I decided to skip town. I made some money playing poker, as you do in Vegas, and bought a bus ticket to Peoria, Illinois.

Why Peoria, Illinois, you ask? My mom didn't really know much about my father, she told me everything she knew. Apparently he was charismatic, a handsome flirt with a stunning smile, I always feel queasy when she starts talking like that. She knew the guy for one night, he knocked her up and never saw her again, yet she still manages to sound half in love with the bastard. The night she met him, the one night she knew, this night I came into the world, he was apparently off his face in the club. Kept pissing and moaning about what a dump Peoria was.

So I set off on my big journey to find Anthony DiNozzo, my father.


	2. I Hate Cops

Peoria was a bust, I went to the Police Department, they told me he left for Philadelphia years ago. So I stole some dumbass cop's wallet and bought another bus ticket to Philadelphia.

Same story there, they sent me to Baltimore.

* * *

In Baltimore, things actually began to happen. Turns out Anthony (I am not calling him dad, shoot me first) was there for two years. I was arguing with some random cop when his old partner, who was the captain of the Precinct, overheard me mention his old partner's name. I got dragged up to his office and ordered to explain the whole thing.

'Okay, that sounds like Tony. I mean, he was, and probably still is, a playboy. But the numbers ain't adding up, kid. I mean, fifteen years ago, Tony was a rookie cop. They guy you're talking about was a lot older, right?' the captain didn't believe me, cops can be so goddamn stupid.

'Whatever, can I go now?' I stood and grabbed my bag, but the guy just shook his head.

'You're fifteen years old, a minor. I can't let you just walk out of here and onto the streets.'

'I can take care of myself fine.' The cop laughed.

'I'm going to order pizza, you want some?' My money situation was tight, so I agreed. I mean, what kind of idiot turns down a free meal?

'Meatlovers.' I told him, he nodded and left the office. I watched him through the glass window overlooking the bullpen where most of the cops worked, he talked to a detective, glancing back towards the office occasionally. I knew he was up to something, and began to go over my options for getting out of there. Unfortunately, police precincts were pretty secure locations. It was a stupid mistake to come here, I decided, but there was no going back now.

Half an hour later he returned with some cans of coke and the pizza, half Meatlovers, half supreme. The captain didn't spend much time eating his pizza, I could tell he was watching me scarfing down the food, so I slowed it down, I didn't want them knowing how hungry I was. Never reveal your weaknesses to people like cops, they'll use it against you.

When I finished he took away the rubbish, including the half empty coke can. 'I'm not finished with that.' I told him.

'I'll get you a fresh one.' He replied. It was only after he left that I figured out why he wanted, he was gonna get my prints, and possibly my DNA from that. Not good. I grabbed my bag and left the office, he noticed and hurried over.

'Where's the barthroom?' I asked, he relaxed slightly and pointed it out for me. inside, I waited until it was empty of cops, which took a while, they pissed a lot, guess it was all the coffee, I was surprised the doughnuts didn't soak it up. The booze probably didn't help, half of them reeked of it.

The coast was clear, I moved to the window. They hadn't bothered to seal that one up too well, it was a third storey window after all. I got it open, and stood on a bin to peer down and around, looking for a way out. I kind a had to do a Jason Bourne getting down from there, after I decided it was possible, I tossed my bag to the ground, making it official. It's lucky I don't actually own anything that would be damaged by a three storey drop.

I had to go backwards out of the window, which was not pleasant, let me tell you. There was a little ledge that ran the length of the building, a few feet below the window, I lowered my feet onto that. To one side several feet away was a downpipe, using only the gaps between the bricks for handholds, I shuffled along until I reached that drainpipe. Longest few minutes of my life. I was halfway down that when the captain's head popped out of the bathroom window.

'Hey!' he shouted. I swore, I was hoping he'd give me a few more minutes to at least get my feet on the ground. He disappeared, by the time I landed on the ground, three uniformed officers were waiting for me. They grabbed one arm each, a third picked up my bag, and I was frog marched around the corner, back into the precinct. This time I was placed into an interrogation room, the door locked from the outside and there were no windows. I was fucked, good and proper.

* * *

I spent two days in the precinct, they had me up on some bogus charge about damaging police property, cos I had to break the lock on the bathroom window to get it open. They didn't really seem interested in my legal rights, but the captain kept me fed and showered. Nights were spent in a lockup cell, I got one to my own at least, course I didn't sleep much.

Then things changed. The captain had me brought up to his office, where I hadn't been since the first day. Waiting with the captain was a man and a woman. The man eyed me as apprehensively as I did him, the woman was just curious.

'More bloody cops? I didn't do nothing, okay? If you don't let me go right now, I'm gonna get me a lawyer, and sue the fuck out of you, hear me? by the time I'm done with you, you won't be able to get a fucking job as a mall cop.' the man turned to the captain.

'Are you sure about this Rick?' he asked, the captain sighed.

'Hey, you think I'd drag you down here for a joke, Tony?' Tony, as in Anthony DiNozzo? My mind went blank, was this guy really my father?

'Yes. Yes, you would.' Rick and Tony grinned.

'This ain't a joke, Tony.' Tony turned his attention back to me.

'Look, I think your mother made some kind of mistake, alright? Because I was nowhere near Vegas at that time.' I scowled.

'Fuck you.'

'Tony, please. Can't you just take him off my hands? Go get a paternity test, prove it to Cesar, and then send him back where he came from or whatever.' Said the captain. 'He's been raising hell here, I want him gone.'

'Really? Then why didn't you just let me go, you dumbass pig?' I shouted at the captain.

'Pig?' the woman repeated, she had some kind of accent, foreign.

'It's a nickname for a cop, Ziva.' Tony explained. 'Fine, I'll take him. But you owe me, Rick.'

'Whatever, just take him already.' The captain said, I picked up my bag and followed Tony and the foreign chick out of the office. Outside the precinct a 66 Mustang sat waiting, Tony unlocked it, smirking at the look on my face. I decided then that if I needed to, I would definitely steal his car to get away. And then I would totally destroy it. They put me in the back.

'So, where are you taking me? You know, against my will and stuff.' I asked as he pulled away from the kerb.

'Washington DC.' Tony replied.

'Right. So you're a cop, I can see that. But what about this chick? I mean, since when did cops carry two guns?' the pair exchanged a look.

'Two guns?' she repeated.

'Yeah, your ankle.' I replied.

'Very good, Cesar.' She smiled at me in the rear vision mirror. I'll give Tony one thing, his girlfriend was hot. I hoped I was wrong about Tony being my father, it'd be way too creepy if this chick turned out to by my stepmother.

'She has a name, Cesar, it's Ziva David.' Said Tony. 'And we're both Special Agents.'

'Special? As in retarded special?' I asked, Tony gripped the steering wheel tight, I could see his knuckles going white. Ziva laid a hand on his shoulder, after a moment Tony glanced over at her, and she pulled it back. They were a weird couple.

They drove over to the Navy Yard. I knew military, a lot of them liked to let off steam in Vegas. If there was one thing you didn't want to get in the way of, it was a platoon of drunk Marines who'd just lost their money at the blackjack tables. I didn't get the military vibe from Tony and Ziva, Tony was all cop, and Ziva, well she certainly wasn't Navy material.

They walked me up to a building for something called NCIS, as they argued with security, who didn't seem keen on letting me into the building, I learnt that it stood for Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Navy cops, they were all the same in my book.

They took me to another bullpen, waiting for us was a computer geek, and an old guy who definitely had a military vibe, the haircut was also a giveaway. 'What the hell is this DiNozzo?' the old guy asked. I didn't like the way he was looking at me, like he could see right through me.

'Cesar Sanchez, seems to think I'm his father.' Tony replied. 'But I'm not.' He added.

'Call my mother a liar one more time, and I'll pound your face in, asshole.' Tony sighed.

'Uh, he has a bit of a potty mouth, boss.' He told the old guy. After that, things happened fast. I want to stress that it was self defence okay? I mean, there are probably CCTV cameras in the room that filmed it all, including the bit where Tony started it. When he whacked the back of my head, in self defence, I turned and broke his nose. He didn't know me, even if he did turn out to be my father, he doesn't have the right to hit me.

The next thing I knew, I was on the ground breathing in carpet. Ziva had me pinned, when I struggled, she tightened her grip, leaning forward to whisper in my ear. 'Do that again, and I will kill you, understand?'

**Okay, now i really need to get ready for work, enjoy, and please review.**


	3. I hate Paternity Tests

If I ever got away from these cops, I would find a lawyer and totally go to town on their asses. After I broke Tony's nose, they stuck me into an interrogation room. Ages later, the Marine boss and this Goth chick in a lab coat entered.

'Abby is going to take some DNA from you, so we can sort this out.' The boss told me. Abby swabbed the inside of my mouth.

'I like to have two samples, can I have a couple of hairs?' she asked, I shrugged.

'Like I got a choice?' Abby pulled a few hairs out, I tried not to wince.

'Sorry.' She said. 'Oh, and in case you were wondering, Tony's nose isn't broken.'

'That's too bad.' I replied, sounding genuinely disappointed, Abby scowled.

'You leave now, Abs.' The boss ordered, the Goth chick disappeared. The boss didn't, he sat across from me. 'Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs.'

'Cesar Morales.' He wasn't big on talking, this Gibbs guy. But two could play that game, I just stared right back at him. It got boring fast, but I wasn't going to give in.

* * *

Gibbs lost. Twenty minutes in his phone rang, I smirked as he answered. He listened to the caller before hanging up. 'With me.' he stood and we left interrogation. Ziva was waiting, I made sure there was a few feet between me and her. Okay, so I know how it looks, me being scared of a girl and all, but that chick knows stuff, fact is I'd be stupid to not be wary of her.

Another elevator ride and we entered a lab, the Goth chick was there, she was playing my favourite band. Tony was also there, he looked like shit. I grinned, he'd changed out of his suit and into what I guessed was a gym shirt, guess I left a lasting impression on his dress shirt. Can't say I was sorry either. He scowled at me.

'Bloody nut job.' He muttered under his breath.

'Abby, what are the results?' Gibbs asked.

'Please tell me it's not a match.' Tony begged.

'You're not has father, Tony.' Abby said.

'Ha! Told you, you little animal.' At that point, I was glad to not have that asshole for a father.

'But.' Abby interjected, Tony's smile shrunk. 'Uh, there is a strong DNA link between you two. I talked with Ducky, and we both agree on the verdict.' Abby paused for dramatic effect, glancing from Tony to myself. 'You're brothers.'

'Brothers?' Tony repeated, I shared his surprise.

'It makes sense Tony, your dad has the same name as you, and he's also a huge flirt.' Said Abby. I couldn't really tell how I felt at that moment, I'd gone searching for my father and found my brother instead. I began to wonder why I'd even set out on this trip in the first place? It's not like I really wanted to get to know my father, I just needed to get out of Vegas.

I guess I had two options at that point, I could keep running. But I had no money, I was a kid with very little schooling, no one was ever gonna hire me with my record. So at that moment I decided to see what would happen with this family angle. Even if Tony cast me out on my ass, I might be able to con some money out of him before that happened.

'I need to make a phone call.' Tony stood and left the room. He came back a minute later, muttering something about never answering the damn phone.

'You, stay here. Try not to assault anyone else.' Gibbs said, glaring at me. He beckoned for Tony, Ziva and McGee to follow him out of the lab. It was just me and Abby, who glared at me.

'I don't care whose brother you are, Cesar. I want you to know that if you punch Tony, or anyone else, I will kill you. I am one of the few people in the world who can do that, and leave no forensic evidence.' I'll be honest, she didn't really scare me like Ziva, but it was unnerving. Since I was planning on sticking around for a while, I decided I should cut down on my enemies list.

'I like this song. I saw them play live last year.' Abby changed suddenly.

'Really? God, I'm so jealous. The one time I managed to actually get tickets, I had to work instead. So unfair. How did you get tickets to their gig?'

'I didn't, I broke into the club they were playing in.' I replied, she grinned.

'That is so fitting for these guys.'

'So you believe that the drummer really did kill that guy?'

'Well, I am a sucker for an urban legend.' I grinned, this Abby chick wasn't half bad.

When Tony returned, he was carrying my bag, Ziva was with him. I was in the process of showing Abby my tattoo. The night after her funeral, the bouncer at her old club, Diego, took me to a tattoo parlour, and I had her name and dates put on my upper arm, framed by an outline of Colombia. She used to tell me these stories about her childhood, those times were the closest she ever got to being happy, so it seemed fitting to me.

'Is that tattoo real?' Tony asked.

'Yeah, course it is.' Replied Abby.

'Since when could fifteen year olds get tattoos?'

'Relax Tony, it's only a little one.' Abby said as a pulled my jacket back on. Tony didn't look convinced, he handed me my bag.

'Come on, Gibbs gave Ziva and I the day off, and I want to get out of here before he changes his mind.' Said Tony. I didn't like the sound of that, spending a whole day with that crazy whack job of a woman.

'Wait, how come you get the day off too, Ziva?' asked Abby. Personally I thought it was obvious, given that she was his girlfriend. But I guess not to Abby.

'Tony's apartment is tiny, yes?'

'Yeah, it doesn't help that he keeps buying more DVDs and cluttering it up.' Both women glared at him and he cowered slightly.

'We all have our hobbies.' He mumbled.

'So, Gibbs told Tony that he is not to make his brother sleep on a couch, and since Tony will not sleep on his couch either, they will stay at my place until Tony gets a decent sized apartment. That, and Gibbs does not like the idea of these two alone together.' Ziva cast a glance from me to beat up Tony.

'Ooh, lucky you.' Abby said to me. 'Ziva's place is great. How come I can't move in too?'

'Isn't your coffin kind of built in?' asked Tony.

'I guess.' Abby pouted. 'Fine, whatever.'

'Come on Cesar, unless you wanna spend the afternoon watching me do paperwork.'

'I don't want to spend the afternoon with you full stop.' I retorted.

'Hey! You're the one who found me, so enough of that.'

'I'm only here, because believe it or not, the alternative is a lot worse.' It slipped out, I hadn't meant to say that. The last thing I wanted was people like Tony knowing my secrets. I left the lab for the elevator, Tony and Ziva were just behind me.

* * *

The afternoon was kind of weird. Instead of heading straight over to the house, they took me to the mall and told me that I looked like a homeless bum, I needed new clothes. The look on Tony's face every time he pulled out his credit card was the only reason I persisted with the shopping thing. I didn't need his charity, or the pity that comes with it.

As the day wore on Tony began to complain more and more, and she finally agreed that we'd done enough shopping. We drove over to Tony's apartment so he could grab a few things. He lived in a really nice neighbourhood, judging by the cars in his parking garage, which made his Mustang seem average. However his apartment was very small, the walls of the living room were lined with shelves of DVDs. Clearly Tony had no social life.

'Ugh, I hate shopping.' Complained Ziva as she flopped into an armchair. This chick just seemed to get weirder and weirder by the minute, what kind of woman doesn't like shopping?

'Could have fooled me.' I replied as I took the couch. I mean, all afternoon Tony kept saying we'd done enough, he was broke, and Ziva kept telling him that she knew what his credit card limit was, and that he could handle it.

'Tony likes shopping even less that I do.' Ziva replied. 'Unless he is buying for himself, that he seems to enjoy.' She smirked at the thought. I decided then to stop trying to figure out what the hell was going on between them, they seemed to revel in not acting like normal human beings.

Tony took forever to pack, seriously, he's like a girl. You should have seen him fussing over his stupid suits, it wasn't until Ziva threatened to shove the TV remote somewhere nasty that he got his act together. That was one good thing about Ziva, Tony had a very healthy respect for her.

Ziva's place was pretty big. Set in a suburban area with large blocks, she had clear lawns all around her house. The house itself was a two storey building with a bluestone facing. The ceiling in the entrance hall had been removed, creating a huge open space, where you could see up into much of the second floor.

'You can have this room.' Ziva said, leading me to a room at the far end of the second floor. It was simple enough, cream walls contrasting with the burgundy curtains that framed the bay windows overlooking the front of the house. A double bed and a big old wardrobe in one corner. I dumped my stuff and went back downstairs, Tony was ordering pizza. What was it with cops and pizza?

I didn't really want to spend much time in their company, so I went to my room. After a few minutes I grew bored, and headed back down to see what I could scrounge from the kitchen. I stopped just around the corner, out of sight when I heard talking.

'So, what did your father have to say?' asked Ziva, there was a loud cracking sound. 'That was stupid Tony, you need your phone.'

'He's in Monaco, thinks he's hit the jackpot on this investment scheme, can't posssibly leave Europe right now.' This was the first I'd heard about my father, and I felt nothing. No disappointment, no betrayal. I mean, I had never known him, so the fact that it wasn't going change didn't really bother me.

'So that leaves you to care for Cesar.'

'He's rude, angry, violent, and he's got a fucking tattoo.' Tony complained. 'I think Gibbs has been blown up one too many times, I don't think I can help him.'

'He has a false bravado, Tony. But underneath is just a scared boy. He has seen things a child should not have, and it has marked him.' Ziva replied, I wanted to go in there and tell that chick where to shove her opinions. False bravado? What bullshit was this?

'Yeah, remind you of anyone, Ziva David?'

'What are you saying Tony?'

'Come on. Things haven't been the same since Somalia. And by things, I mean you.'

'This is the wrong time to be having this conversation.'

'Wrong time? Yeah, it's always the wrong time, wrong place. If I'm the wrong fucking person Ziva, just say so, and I'll back off.' Tony sounded pretty frustrated.

'It is the wrong time Tony, because your brother is eavesdropping. Yes, Cesar, I know you're there.' Ziva appeared suddenly, Tony a moment later, looking pissed.

'How do you do that?' Tony asked Ziva, to be honest, I wanted to know the answer as well.

'Later, Tony. I am going to bed, goodnight.' Ziva turned and left suddenly, leaving me with Tony. He kind of stood there, not saying anything, deep in thought I guess.

'So what happened in Somalia?' I asked, cos really, I was getting tired of all these long silences. Tony scowled.

'Nothing that's any of your business kid. Why aren't you sleeping?'

'I just wanted to get something to drink.'

'Do that, and then get some sleep okay? We start work early, and I'm not leaving you alone in the house, which means you're coming with us.' Tony walked past me after muttering a quick goodnight. I made my way into the kitchen, noticing the broken bits of a cell phone. He didn't want me here, I was a complication.

I went back upstairs, passing the closed door to the master bedroom, the next bedroom's door was also closed, but I could see that Tony had the light on. I stopped. 'Death isn't good enough for the rat bastard.' I heard him say. I didn't really want to listen to more of what Tony thought of me, so I went back to my room. I packed up my stuff, leaving the new clothes Tony had bought me, before making my way downstairs. I found Tony's wallet on the hallstand and took out all the cash.

Tony didn't want me in his life, and frankly, I didn't like the guy enough to force the issue. It was with that last thought that I left the house and began to make my way towards the closest bus stop.

**So please review, I'd love to know what you think.**


	4. I hate Trains

I checked the schedule at the bus stop, apparently they didn't run services this late in the suburbs. So I began to walk, I remembered passing a train station a few miles before we reached the house. Hopefully they'd be running, I didn't want to be around when Tony noticed I'd robbed him. Wouldn't put it past the guy to arrest me and send me to juvenile hall. Of course, I've been there so many times, that they might just skip that and send me to adult prison this time. Without any conscious thought, I began to walk faster.

An hour later, and he found me at the train station. There was no one else there, just me and Tony sitting on a bench. I refused to look at him sitting there, with all his condescending pity.

'Look, just do us a both a favour and leave. Tell everyone you couldn't find me.' I told him, half of me hoped he would do just that, a smaller, traitorous part, hoped he would not.

'Why'd you run, Cesar?' he asked.

'You don't want me around, I don't want be here.'

'What makes you think that I don't want you around?'

'I heard you man. In your room, "Death isn't good enough for the rat bastard".' Tony actually laughed.

'You think I was talking about you?' he asked.

'Well, what else was I supposed to think?'

'Cesar, I wasn't talking about you, okay? I don't want you dead, I don't want you to leave.'

'You're full of shit.' He got angry.

'Let's not forget that you came to me, okay? I didn't ask for this.'

'Yeah? I didn't ask for my life either.' Again, it slipped out, Tony can be really annoying, and when I'm angry stuff just comes out.

'What's that meant to mean?'

'Means my only chance of staying out of foster care is staying with you, pretty depressing if you ask me.' Yeah, that works, he won't dig deeper than that, I thought.

'Right.' Tony sat back, staring forward at the train tracks, dimly lit by the weak overhead lighting at the station.

'So if you weren't talking about me, who do you want dead?' I asked.

'My- our father. I don't want him dead though, that was just... letting off steam.'

'Yeah? When I want to let off steam, I steal stuff.'

'Is that the reason?'

'One of them anyway.' Tony shook his head. 'So, tell me about my rat bastard father.'

'That is a long story.'

'Whatever, I got time before my train arrives.'

'We'll talk about that later.' Tony warned. 'Uh, so what do you want to know?'

'Look I don't know the guy, so anything would be news to me.'

'You know, you didn't miss out on much.' Tony began. 'I mean, he wasn't cut out for being a father. My mother died when I was eight, and he couldn't handle it, so he packed me off to boarding schools and summer camps, anything that would take me off his hands.' I thought about telling Tony that my mother could hardly even afford to put food on the table, let alone send me to a decent school. She worked fifty hour weeks and still earned less than the average moron on welfare, such is the life of an immigrant.

'Well I wish I could say it was nice to meet you, only it wasn't.' I stood and picked up my bag, making for the train. I expected him to let me go. I was surprised when he put a hand on my shoulder, stopping me.

'Where are you going to go Cesar?' he asked.

'Dunno, as far this train will take me from here.'

'You're a very bitter person.' Tony said, I pulled away.

'I got my reasons.' I tried to make for the train but Tony stopped me again, this time he grabbed my arm, it wasn't painful tight, but I wasn't breaking free anytime soon.

'Look, I know I've been an ass about all this, but you gotta understand, I never knew you existed. I'm still in shock, to be honest.' Tony paused. 'Actually, knowing my- our father, it's not that shocking.'

'The next train isn't for another hour, so I really don't want to miss this one.'

'Cesar, it's late, and you're fifteen years old. Look, just stay a week. If you still want out at the end, I'll buy you a ticket to wherever you want to go, okay?' Reflecting back, this was one of those big life altering choices. The first time, I'd chosen to run away from foster care and come over here to DC. 'I'm gonna do better, okay?' He insisted.

'Well, you could hardly do worse.' I replied as the train left the station, Tony grinned.

'Is that a yes?' he asked.

'Train's gone, and I'm not on it, enough for you?'

'I'll take what I can get.'

On the drive home, I tried to figure out why I agreed to this. I mean, previous experience had taught me that sticking around led to pain and disappointment. People were a disappointment in general, so what made me think that Tony was going to be any different?

I guess the fact that he bothered to find me at the train station. That was new for me, not even my mom bothered looking for me when I disappeared for a few days. Most of the time because I'd been arrested. They'd hold me, call her up, but she never came to bail me out. She had to work a lot, didn't have time to be running around the city cleaning up my messes. I was a big boy, I could take care of myself.

**I'd like at least five reviews before I post the next chapter, thanks guys.**


	5. I hate Gibbs

**Okay, so something I want to clear up, there will be no child abuse themes in this story, possibly a little neglect, but no abuse.**

'You're gonna sit right there, and stay out of trouble, okay?' Gibbs ordered, pointing to a chair he'd placed next to his desk, the guy really didn't trust me. Couldn't blame him though, Ziva had busted me at the entrance to the building when I pocketed one of the security guard's passes.

'What am I supposed to do all day, anyway?' I complained, Tony was working on the paperwork he had managed to avoid yesterday, I didn't envy him. Ziva and McGee were also typing away dutifully, it was all very dull.

'Sit, and be silent.' Gibbs replied. I rolled my eyes, the sooner I got away from that guy, the better. Unfortunately, he sat there with his coffee and some report, reading silently. God, being a Fed was so unbelievably boring.

After twenty minutes my salvation came in the form of a phone call to Gibbs. He answered, listened for a minute, before collecting his gun and badge. 'Dead Marine Colonel in Georgetown.' He announced, the response from the others was automatic as Gibbs tossed a set of keys at Ziva. 'Tony, join Ziva in the truck, after you've escorted Cesar down to Abby's lab.'

'On it, boss.' Tony replied, I stood and followed sullenly, I didn't like this whole, being treated like a prisoner thing.

'If this is what the rest of the week is going to be like, I'm leaving tonight.' I told Tony in the elevator. He sighed.

'Gibbs wouldn't have done that if you'd kept your fingers to yourself.' He replied, the sanctimonious little weasel.

'Oh come, it was right in front of my face, begging me to take it.'

'Cesar, that was the absolute wrong thing to say.' Tony replied as the elevator doors slid open. Abby was waiting outside.

'Gibbs called, apparently I'm to make sure you keep your nose clean.' Abby said, I stepped out of the elevator and Tony left.

'Feel free to ignore his advice.' I suggested.

'I can't, he said if you commit any more crimes in the building, he'll cut off my Caff-Pow supply.' Abby replied, sounding sullen. 'Blackmail is not cool.'

'I've learnt my lesson. Can't you guys chill already?' I complained, following her into the lab.

'I'll let you play games on my computer, how does that sound?'

'Sounds okay.'

* * *

Tony, Gibbs, Ziva and McGee didn't return until mid afternoon. By that point I was starting to enjoy myself, Abby and I went out for lunch, she took me to a really great Mexican place. I'm a sucker for pretty much any South American food, especially enchiladas.

I asked her how long Tony and Ziva had been dating, if they were still sleeping in separate rooms. 'Oh, they're not going out.' Abby said confidently. 'Why? What have you heard?'

'Not much, they just seem really touchy feely.' I replied.

'Yeah, they both have issues when it comes to personal space.' Abby grinned. 'You know, them sharing a house is going to be really interesting. You're going to have to spy on them for me, tell me if anything happens.'

'Why would I want to do that?'

'There's an office pool on when they'll get together, if you help me win, I'll give you a cut of my winnings.'

'I'd rather just place my own bet.'

'You're underage, not happening.'

'Come on, no one's ever blocked me out cos of my age before.' No, it was usually because I counted cards that I got thrown out of games.

'Well, you're going to try this new thing called obeying the law, okay Cesar?' Abby replied.

When Tony and McGee came into the lab carrying heavy crates filled with evidence, Abby and I were playing blackjack, we were only playing for matchsticks, so I didn't cheat. I still cleaned her out.

'Look at all this evidence, and it's not even my birthday.' Abby clapped her hands together, excited. I had never seen anyone have such a positive reaction to work before, they were a bunch of crazies, but Abby was at least the fun kind, Gibbs wasn't.

'There was blood everywhere, Gibbs had me and McGoo collect everything.' Tony groaned. 'I swear, all of his stuff has been weighted with lead.'

'Really?' replied Abby, peering into one box, curious.

'No.' McGee replied. 'I'm gonna start working on his laptop. He worked at the Pentagon, so it's going to take forever to get through his encryptions.'

'No point if you ask me, the wife did it.' Replied Tony.

'You always think it's the wife.' Abby replied. 'Not even Gibbs is that biased.' Tony chuckled.

'Speaking of which, Cesar, come on. Boss says I gotta bring you back up with me.'

'Can't I just stay here?'

'Sorry, Gibbs gave me a direct order.' Tony replied.

'Spineless.' I muttered as I followed him into the elevator.

'What?'

'Nothing.' Tony didn't look convinced.

'I was thinking, what if I enrolled you in school? Since you don't like hanging around here.'

'I got kicked out of my last school.' I replied.

'Yeah, big shocker there.' Tony rolled his eyes. 'So did you mean to get kicked out?'

'No.'

'What happened?' I didn't like the way he kept asking me questions about school. That was something I'd been trying to put behind me for a while now.

'Damn, what's with the Spanish Inquisition?' the elevator stopped and I hurried away, being made to sit silently in a corner while Gibbs glared at everyone was preferable. Tony knew something was up though, cos he kept looking over at me. Course, it only lasted a few moments each time, before Gibbs would notice and shout at him to get back to work.

* * *

McGee managed to secure time to speak to the General that the colonel was working under, so him and Gibbs left for the Pentagon. As soon as the elevator closed behind Gibbs, Tony stopped pretending to work. 'Cesar, go and see Abby, see if she's found anything interesting.' He ordered, I jumped up and left bullpen. Only, I didn't take the elevator down to Abby's lab. I was fairly certain that Tony wanted me gone so he could stick his nose where it didn't belong, in terms of what happened at my school. I doubled back, and when no one was watching, snuck into the cubicle behind McGee's desk. From there I could listen in.

'Don't you have work to be doing? At _your_ desk, Tony?' Ziva asked, I had to say, she didn't sound very reproachful. I slid out of the chair and onto the ground, before risking a quick glance around the corner. Tony had moved his desk chair across, as close to Ziva as possible, looking up at computer screen, she was looking down at him, smiling. I watched as he put an arm over the back of her chair, turning his attention to her.

'Abby and Cesar seem to get on.' Remarked Tony.

'You came over here to tell me that?' Ziva asked, she sounded disappointed.

'See, I was thinking of getting Abby to take Cesar out for the night after the case wraps up.' Tony continued. 'That way, we can talk.' Ziva was still for a moment, before she smiled, one that, in spite of the fact that I had a healthy respect for her, still got me hot.

'Talking? Is that all you are interested in?' she asked, I could see Tony was getting sucked in, he was staring at her mouth, his own half open, before his blinked a few times and drew back.

'Yeah. Just talk.' Ziva's smile disappeared.

'Why do you insist we talk about that?' she asked, looking frustrated.

'Because it's been months, and you've said nothing.'

'Yes! Maybe because I am trying to move on here. But you insist I talk, and so the memories just won't go.'

'I don't know what I'm reminding you of, because you won't tell me.' I sat back, I didn't need to see their faces to follow their argument, their voices were rising in volume by the second.

'What do you want to know, Tony? About that first beating Saleem gave me? It was the worst of them all, he was furious that I came so close to killing him. It was only afterwards that he decided that he could use me to get information. You were not the only one coerced to talk, Tony. I was pumped full of drugs, until I gave up secrets that could seriously hurt Mossad and NCIS. I was then left alive so I could reflect on what a traitor I was, and so he could tell me of the lives he planned on taking with the intel I gave him. When you pulled me out of there, I was looking for ways to make him end it all.' There was silence. 'Is that what you wanted to hear? Are you happy now?' she stood up and walked out of the bullpen, right past me, I don't think she even noticed though.

A few seconds later, Tony followed in hot pursuit. I waited until I was sure they were gone, before making my way to Abby's lab.

* * *

'Hey Cesar, I'm crazy busy at this second, so why don't you go play computer games in there?' she waved in the general direction of her desk as she stared at something on her screen.

'So I guess you don't want to know about the huge dustup Tony and Ziva just had in the bullpen.' I replied, Abby span around.

'Spill, my delinquently inclined young friend.' She ordered. Friend, I could live with that.

**Once again, please review, thanks a bunch to everyone who did so for the last chpater, I would have updated sooner, only the Tony/Ziva argument took me a while to work out. Let me know how you think it went, and what the fallout is gonna be.**


	6. I hate Road Trips

'Stupid, stupid man!' Abby cursed, she picked up a stuffed hippo and threw it at a wall, as it hit the wall it made a large farting noise, I was pretty certain that was the hippo. 'Seriously, sometimes Tony just does the stupidest things.'

'If it makes you feel better, they were looking pretty cosy before that.' I replied, Abby began to rant about Tony and his need to poke his nose in other people's business and how it was gonna cost her a lot of money and him his best chance at true love. I kinda tuned out.

'Cesar! You have to help me fix this.' That caught my attention, no way did I want to get involved in Ziva's personal life, the happiest day of my life would be the one when I would stop living under the same roof as that chick.

'No way.' I told Abby, shaking my head. 'No frickin way.'

'Come on, Cesar. Do this, and I won't tell Ziva that you were spying on them again.' She begged.

'You don't play fair.'

'The end justifies the means, and you're hardly in a position to lecture me on right and wrong.'

'Ha.' I scowled. 'So what am I meant to be doing exactly?' Abby stopped pacing.

'I don't know. Damn, playing cupid is really hard.'

'Don't call it that, or I might just change my mind.'

'I'll need some time to figure this one out. Go back upstairs and tell Tony that he's probably right about the wife, the Colonel had a hundred gigs of gay porn on his encrypted laptop.'

Tony was at his desk, staring at something on his computer screen, the vacant look in his eyes made me think he wasn't actually paying much attention. Ziva was also at her desk, she was putting much more attention into her work.

'So Abby found a shitload of gay porn on the Colonel's laptop.' Tony snapped out of his reverie and looked up at me.

'What?'

'Gay porn on laptop.' I repeated slowly. 'Do I need to draw you a picture?'

'Please don't.' Tony picked up his phone 'Hey Gibbs, Abby's found some stuff on the Colonel's laptop that would give his wife a real good motive for the killing.' He listened for a moment, before grimacing. 'What about Cesar, I think one of us should stay back with him, she's only a little lady, I'm sure it won't take the two of us.' He pulled the phone away from his ear, wincing, after a minute he put it back. 'On it, boss.' He hung up.

'Well?' Ziva asked.

'We're going to interview the wife. Cesar's coming. Gibbs really doesn't trust him.'

'No.' She replied, I stood as they collected guns and coats and badges. The silent tension between them was palpable. There'd been a tension between them when they picked me up from Baltimore, that was more lust, this was just bitter.

* * *

The wife wasn't staying at her house in Washington, apparently she'd gone to her sister's, several hours away in rural Virginia. Which meant that I got to spend five hours in the back seat of a car in absolute silence, up front, Tony drove, and Ziva wouldn't look away from her passenger side window.

After about an hour of silence, I managed to get Tony to put the radio on, to break the monotony. 'Severe storms for eastern Virginia as a huge low pressure system moves west, heavy rain and wind gusts up to eighty miles an hour are expected, we're advising residents to secure loose items and avoid road travel.' Tony switched the radio off.

'Are you seriously gonna keep driving into that?' I asked.

'Yes. Why? You scared?' he retorted, angry.

'Bite me.'

'Real mature.' He replied.

'That coming from the guy who's wearing Mickey Mouse boxers?' Tony fidgeted in his seat.

'Shut up.'

'Are we there yet?' I asked, grinning as Tony gripped the steering wheel harder.

'If you start that, I will shoot you.' Ziva interjected. I shut up after that. Tony looked across at Ziva, I guess he wanted to thank her, but she had already returned her attention to the window, and away from him.

It was late when we arrived in a poxy little seaside town, the storm had arrived before us and was hammering everything. Tony was fighting to keep driving in a straight line. He made a command decision to hold off heading out to the farm to see the wife until morning, instead we made our way over to a tiny Inn. They had some renovations going, so Tony and I had to share a room while Ziva got the last one to herself. This seemed monumentally unfair to me, cos I liked my privacy, and Tony and Ziva were halfway to getting into bed together anyway. At least, they were before that argument that afternoon.

There was no cell phone reception, so Tony used a payphone to tell Gibbs what was happening, before he met us in the dining room. As a former resident of the city of Las Vegas, I won't say that it was a great night, but the old lady who served us was real nice about it, so I ate it all. She seemed to take to me, feeding me sweets after dinner. Then the power died and the old lady had to go check on her cats. Ziva had already gone up to her room, she'd said a grand total of ten words throughout dinner, and none of them were to Tony.

Tony and I headed up to our twin share room, in the dark I fumbled my way over to one bad and flopped down. 'Man, this sucks.' I complained, staring up at the ceiling.

'You didn't think so when the old lady was stuffing you with candy.' Tony replied.

'So what's up with Ziva?' I asked, there was silence for a while. 'I mean, talk about the silent treatment, damn.'

'Shut up Cesar.'

'See here's the thing Tony, I got rights, like freedom of speech.' I replied. 'So I don't think I want to.'

'Oh god, what did I do to deserve you, huh?'

'Maybe it's got something to do with you being a monumental ass.' I replied. 'I saw you and Ziva arguing in the bullpen this afternoon, pretty intense stuff.'

'What is it with you and eavesdropping? I should trade you to the CIA.'

'Maybe you should, anything would be better than Gibbs.'

'You just rub him the wrong way, cos you're a criminal.'

'Yeah, well. Back to your and Ziva's little spat, who is this Saleem guy?'

'I'm going to the bar, get some sleep Cesar.' Tony walked out, slamming the door behind him. I rolled over, planning on doing just that.

Only I couldn't get to sleep. At first I decided it was the lightning, I drew the heavy drapes closed and completely blacked out the room, but no dice. I wasn't cold either, that quilt was definitely warm enough, in milder weather I might have been a bit hot.

So instead I lay there, staring up at the ceiling and thinking about stuff. That got old fast, so I dressed again, and made my way downstairs to the bar, no mean feat in a blacked out Inn. I stopped at the entrance, by the light of a candle I could see Tony sitting at a table, a bottle of scotch whisky and a shot glass in front of him. As I stood there, Ziva appeared out of the darkness and sat, placing her own shot glass down.

'Pour.' She ordered, Tony obeyed, she took the shot and downed it without blinking. At her insistence Tony poured her two more, before he stopped, pulling the bottle away.

'I can tell you from experience that drinking doesn't make any of it go away.' He told her, he was slurring his words, the hypocrite.

'I would like to forget though.' Ziva replied. 'I wish I could have the old days back Tony. I want the old me back.'

'Ziva, you're still you.'

'You said it yourself, I am not the same. I can see that just as well as the next person.'

'People can change over time, I mean, look at me.'

'True.' Ziva admitted, Tony poured them both another round of shots. 'The Tony I first met would not put up with Cesar, he would have sent him on his way.'

'I dunno if I was that bad...' Ziva raised an eyebrow, Tony sighed and poured himself a shot. 'Like I said, people can change.'

'For the better.' Said Ziva, Tony looked up at her. 'You changed for the better, Tony. Time will determine if I have changed for better or worse also.'

'I like to think for the better.'

'You would say that.'

'I'm not just saying that. The Ziva I first met, she'd have shot me last summer. The Ziva I first met didn't have the courage to resign from Mossad and make her own way in life.' Ziva didn't reply, she might have been smiling as she took the bottle and poured them two more shots, they were both gonna have one hell of a hangover in the morning. Lightning lit up the room momentarily, as thunder seemed to make everything shake.

'I don't like the dark.' Ziva said as she downed her shot. 'Reminds me of the hood, I wore the hood a lot. It was dark.' Well, I guess if you'd drunk as much as she had in the last twenty minutes, you wouldn't be very literate either.

'I'll protect you.' Tony declared. 'Course, there's a blackout, so I can't do much about the dark. I guess I could always burn down the Inn, that'd be pretty bright.' He was also pretty drunk.

'Come here.' Ziva ordered, Tony moved his chair next to hers, she grabbed his arm and put it around her shoulders. 'There, now you are helping.' She told him.

'I like helping.' He replied. 'I wanna help.' I left then, I had no real desire to watch them make out or worse. I made my way back up to the room and finally got to sleep.

* * *

Morning came, and we drove out to the farm where the colonel's wife was staying. They had me sit outside on the porch while they interviewed the woman. After a few minutes the woman began yelling at them, there was a smashing sound, and fight sounds. Ziva came out, leading the woman in handcuffs, Tony was following behind. He was a bit worse the wear for all the drinking he'd done the night before, Ziva however, seemed fine. I dunno, maybe she's a really good actor, or not human.

We drove back up to Washington, this time I got to sit in the front next to Tony while Ziva sat in the back with the wife. Tony and I fought over the radio, I wanted to listen to music, he insisted that his head was going to split open if he had to listen to that noise for one more minute. It didn't, he can be such a drama queen.

I had to stay in the bullpen under the supervision of the geek McGee while Gibbs interviewed the wife, but it was a cut and dried. She'd found out about her husband's true sexuality, and hired a hit man to take him out. She gave Gibbs the name, and the agents disappeared to collect him. I was sent down to the morgue to hang out with this old guy who would not shut up.

They returned and I got to watch them do paperwork again. It really was intolerable, I wondered if Tony had changed his mind about having me live with him, and was trying to drive me away.

'Hey Tony.' I called after Gibbs left. Tony was on the phone, ignoring me. I pulled a piece of blank paper out of the printer, balled it up, and ditched it at the back of his head. Nothing. I kept doing it, Ziva noticed, and rolled her eyes, smiling. Finally Tony finished his call, he slammed down the phone and turned to face me.

'What!?' he shouted.

'You done yet? I wanna get out of here.'

'No.' He replied. Five minutes later I threw another paper ball, he looked up.

'Yes?'

'Done yet?' he didn't reply, just returned to his typing. I threw another ball, cos it was fun to see his reactions.

'Cesar, I'm gonna kill you. I swear, I'm gonna rip you limb from frickin limb!' it took me a moment to decide if he was kidding, but the fact that Ziva was still smiling told me that he wasn't being serious.

'Interesting, Tony, how you cannot take what you plate out.' Said Ziva. No, I didn't get it either.

'What you dish out, Ziva.' Tony corrected.

'Regardless, you have spent years harassing McGee, and yet, after five minutes of your own medicine, you cannot take it anymore.' Tony opened his mouth, but nothing came out, he closed it and returned to his work. I threw another ball, he jumped out of his chair and I was off, leading him round the bullpen. Ziva and McGee laughed as Tony shouted curses at my back. Before he could catch me, Gibbs returned and after glaring at Tony wordlessly for a while, sent everyone home.

**I really meant to update yesterday, only FanFiction wouldn't let me upload the chapter. This is my favourite chapter so far, please review and tell me what you think.**


	7. I hate Flying

Gibbs called Tony and told him that unless they had a case, he didn't want him returning to the office until he'd figured out what the hell to do with me. Which Tony took to mean, find a school that'd actually accept me. I went back to bed.

I was asleep when he walked in and woke me up. 'Cesar, we need to talk.' He said, pulling open the curtains, flooding the room with light.

'I need sleep.' I told him. 'It's a fact, teenagers need extra sleep.'

'Bullshit.' Tony replied. 'Guess what I got here?'

'I don't fucking care!'

'Your school records.' Yeah, I was awake then, pissed too.

'That's none of your goddamn business. It's private.' I told him.

'I'm your legal guardian Cesar, that, and I'm also a federal agent with a security clearance.' I rolled out of bed, standing before Tony in my boxer shorts and a t shirt.

'Fine. Tell it to me straight, you gonna arrest me now, or let the Las Vegas police do the honours?' I asked him.

'You've been lying since the minute I met you.' Tony said. 'You were using me.'

'I was looking out for myself, no one else is gonna do it.' I told him. Hell, it was all out in the open now, why hold back?

'Why'd you do it Cesar?'

'What part? Beating up the kid, or running away?' I asked.

'You ran away to stay out of trouble, why'd you beat up the kid?' Tony pressed.

'Self defence.'

'Yeah?' he didn't believe me, no one ever did.

'Yeah.'

'Self defence from what? What was he gonna do to you, that warranted you knocking four of his teeth out, and breaking his ribs?' I grinned, it was so fucking typical.

'He had a gun, okay?'

'There was nothing about a gun in the police report.'

'He tossed it when the teachers broke it up. Believe it or not, there was a huge storm in Vegas that day, and I guess it washed the gun away, cos they never found it.'

'Yeah?'

'It was real.'

'If he had a gun, and was going to use it on you, how'd you avoid getting shot, Cesar?'

'The guy was a dumbfuck, his brother's a drug dealer, that's who the piece belonged to. He brought it to the school, cornered me on the street out back, that's the way lot of kids sneak out. He was so fucking confident, he turned his back on me to show the others the gun, and I jumped him.'

'There were witnesses?'

'None of them talked.'

'Shit.' Tony sighed and pulled out his phone.

'Who you calling?'

'Gibbs.' He replied.

'Oh, I was looking forward to not seeing that guy today.'

'If anyone's gonna help us get you out of this, it's him.'

'Great.'

'Go get dressed, will ya?'

'Then get out of my room.' He rolled his eyes and walked out as he put the phone to his ear.

The next thing I knew, Tony, Gibbs and I were on a plane, heading back to Las Vegas. I was still not entirely sure that they weren't escorting me back to be arrested. I remembered to say my prayers that day, for sure.

**Yes, it's short, and it kinda has a cliffhanger, but it's all I have time to write right now, cos me and twenty of my closest mates are going up to the beach for the long weekend when I get back from work tonight. I promise that if you give me some nice inspirational reviews, I'll knuckle down on this when I get back.**


	8. I Hate A Close Call

**This chapter sucks, but I have been working on it for a week and it seems to be getting worse. So I'm going to post it already. Oh, I've noticed that this fic is lacking in the McGee department, I want to fix that, but am all out of ideas. Put any suggestions you have in a review.**

They hired a car at the airport and drove back to my old school. It was a public holiday in Nevada. The school looked weird without any people, I remember hunching my shoulders and shoving my hands into my pockets as I followed them.

They led me to the back, where it had all happened. It was hard to believe that it not even been a fortnight since my mother's funeral, and the schoolyard fight. At Gibbs orders I had to recreate the scene, with Tony acting the part of the guy I'd beaten up. They spent a lot of time examining the drain where the gun had been dumped. Tony took a whole heap of pictures of the drain and the yard.

Then Gibbs made a phone call, Tony and I stood around waiting for him to finish. 'So this was your school?' Tony asked, looking over at the buildings. All of them old, dilapidated and marked by graffiti.

'Yeah.'

'I went to military school, hated every single minute of it.' Tony said.

'Yeah, I hated this place too.' I told him. The fact that they hadn't taken me straight to the local precinct made me wonder if they actually were on my side in all this.

'So why did he want to shoot you in the first place?' Tony asked.

'I dunno, why don't you ask him that?'

'Answer the question Cesar. I'm trying to help you here.'

'He thinks I owe him fifty bucks. But I don't, I won fair and square.'

'More gambling? That is so cliché for Vegas.'

'It's the truth.'

'I know, I'm just saying.'

'Do you know the people who witnessed the fight?' Tony asked.

'I guess.'

'We need to prove that the gun exists, if a witness corroborates your side, you can walk on self defence. Otherwise, you're screwed, frankly.' Tony explained, he looked up. 'Rain in Vegas, hard to imagine.'

'It was real. I mean, it only lasted an hour or two, but it was real.'

'Just saying.' Tony replied again, defensive. Gibbs finished his phone call and walked back towards us.

'Get in the car.' He ordered, during the drive he ignored my questions about where we were going. Of course, this was my neighbourhood, so it only took me a few minutes to realise that we were heading to the local police precinct. I noticed Gibbs eyeing me in the rear view mirror as he pulled the car up. 'Don't even think about trying it.' He told me. I dunno what it was meant to be, but I was too shit scared to think at that moment. Yeah, I might have a cop brother, but I still don't like them.

I was flanked by Gibbs and Tony as we walked through the precinct towards the officer in charge of the investigation. The cop noticed me and dropped the donut in his hand, he swore and brushed some sprinkles off his shirt as he walked forward. 'Well, well. Cesar Morales.' The cop smirked, I opened my mouth to reply but Gibbs beat me to it.

'Agent Gibbs, NCIS. We spoke on the phone?' the cop turned to him.

'You look like a marine to me.' he said suddenly, Gibbs nodded, the cop grinned and rolled up his shirt, showing a tattoo of the marine emblem on his forearm. 'Where'd you serve?'

'Desert Storm and Panama, you?' Gibbs asked.

'Only Desert Storm, got myself injured the day before I was set to ship out.' The pair shared an ironic chuckle. I leant towards Tony as the pair went to get coffee.

'What the hell is going on?'

'No idea. But it's Gibbs, so roll with it.'

'You're assuming he thinks I'm innocent.' I replied, Tony didn't reply. 'I mean, I'm pretty certain he hates me.'

'All I can say, is that it sucks to be you.' Tony replied.

'No fucking shit.'

I was pleasantly surprised when Gibbs and the cop returned, and the cop told me that he was going to take a second look at the case, see if he didn't miss anything. He put a call into the forensic department, asking them to send some over to join him in re examining the scene for the gun. We had to sit around in the precinct for ages waiting for forensics, the cop and Gibbs disappeared, leaving Tony and myself to play hangman. By the end of it, I wanted to hang myself, more than that, I wanted to hang Tony. He has such stupid ideas sometimes.

I found a pack of cards in the cop's desk while Tony was in the bathroom (you just know that if he saw me steal them I'd have had to put them back), so I tried to teach him how to count cards, cos really, he needed all the help he could get.

We were playing a round of five hand draw when she stepped out of the elevator in front of me, and I it sounds cliché, but I was in love. I mean, Pamela Anderson had nothing on her long tan legs, her flowing blonde hair, or her gorgeous rack. Tony noticed my staring and turned, he eyed her for a moment, before turning back.

'You should return the cards Cesar, the forensics tech is here, you wouldn't want that cop to find out you broke into his desk.' I nodded dumbly and put the cards back as the woman approached us.

'You're not Sergeant Flinders, I've met Flinders before, and he is not as good looking as you.' The woman said to Tony, who grinned, I was about ready to fall out of my seat, this woman liked him? What did she see in him?

'Tony DiNozzo, NCIS.' Tony replied. 'I think Flinders is in the break room, I'll go get him for you.' Tony walked off, leaving me with the hot forensics chick.

'And you are?' she asked me, smiling, god, that smile.

'Uh, Cesar.' I replied. 'Your suspect for the day.' she raised an eyebrow at my lame attempt at a joke. Before she could reply, Gibbs, Flinders and Tony returned.

'Sergeant Flinders.' Said the woman.

'Agent Gibbs, meet Naomi Nathan, our forensics expert.' Flinders made the rest of the introductions, and caught Naomi up on the case, I spent most of that time staring at her. I mean, she was hotter than your average playboy centrefold. Naomi left to collect some stuff from her lab, she was going to meet us again back at the school yard.

Oh yeah, the case, my butt on the line. I'm gonna get back on topic now, and return to the subject of Naomi's perfect ass later.

We all rocked up at the school yard, I pointed out the drain for what felt like the hundredth time. Flinders and Tony removed the covering, Naomi took the opportunity to comment on how strong Tony was (gag). She then got this camera on a long cord and put it down the drain, past where the human eye could see from street level. Tony had the job of feeding it out as Naomi watched the screen, looking for the gun.

'You in town long?' Naomi asked Tony.

'Uh, no. We'll probably fly back tomorrow, assuming this gets wrapped up quickly.' He replied.

'Okay.' Naomi replied. 'You want to go out for drinks tonight?'

'I don't know.' Tony replied.

'I can get us into any club on the strip.' She persisted, I couldn't believe Tony hadn't said yes already. I mean, he wasn't blind, he could see her, right?

'That sounds really great, but no thanks.'

'You're not married, are you? I don't see a ring.' Tony laughed.

'Married, no way.'

'Then what? Gay?'

'No!' Tony replied, shocked, Gibbs and Flinders looked up from their conversation over coffee. Tony lowered his head again. 'I'm not gay.' He insisted.

'Then what is it?'

'You don't handle rejections all that well, do you?' Tony asked, exasperated.

'Is that what this is?' asked Naomi.

'Well, I'm trying, but you're not making it easy.' Naomi returned her attention to the screen in front of her, clearly upset. Tony noticed and sighed.

'Look, it's not you, okay?' Tony began. 'There is someone else, and to put it frankly, she's capable of killing me with a paperclip, so I'm being a good boy.'

'Stop.' Naomi said suddenly.

'It's the truth, okay? I'm not making this shit up.' Tony insisted.

'No, look.' Naomi pointed at her screen, Tony and I moved forward, there in scratchy green and white, was the outline of a gun, caught on something protruding from the wall of the drain.

'So you were telling the truth.' Tony said to me.

'You didn't believe me?'

'You don't make it easy, Cesar.' I gave him that one, and shut up as Tony and Naomi went about extracting the gun with Gibbs and Flinders watching. It'd been down there for only a few days but already looked like a shadow of its former self, clad in grime, the water had already began to rust up the moving parts, something Tony discovered as he struggled to remove the clip and clear the chamber.

'We'll run the weapon, see if we can't get a hit.' Said Flinders.

'I already told you whose gun it is.' Gibbs scowled in my direction. 'You're lucky to not be in a cell somewhere.'

They ran the weapon, and got a hit on an unsolved liquor store robbery. The brother of the guy I beat up tried to run, but Flinders shot him, they were nice and put him in a hospital bed next door to his little brother. I got my name cleared by the end of the following day. We took a red eye flight back to DC, Ziva was waiting for us at the airport. Gibbs had his own car so he split.


End file.
